Rifle rocket missile



May 17, 1949. N. M. HOPKINS RIFLE ROCKET MISSILE Filed June' 12, 1944 w a M M uu flwuwgwwa 3 w M m a n a m m F a m J 2 m 7G M K 4 w 4 v.p. .lu I 4 a F M 4 z m \AAZ////%//7//7////// I \\N\\\K \\\\\K\\\ FIG Patented May 17, 1949 RIFLE ROCKET .MISSILE Nevil Monroe Hopkins, New York, N. Y.; Baymonde B. Hopkins, executrix of said Nevil'Monroe Hopkins, deceased, assignor toiRaymonde Briggs Hopkins-New York, N. Y.

Application June 12, 1944, Serial No. 539,906

6 Claims.

This invention pertains to rocket torpedo mis- .s i les fashioned to befired at any angle Of fire from a rifled howitzer or gun, and to attain greater range, and greater accuracy in marksma nslr1 ip over rockets and rocket missiles heretoore de e op It is ,a special object of this invention to fashion a rocket torpedo missile for battleship ,wrecking, when-firedatlow angles of departure jfrom a rifled gun, carrying a maximum mass of high explosive in the most economic andaccurate flight through the air, and after striking the water of the sea, to either skip-shoot over the surface, or to proceed in an under Water scurry and'to produce the torpedo efiect, or in the larger calibres, the mine efiect in proximity to the ships under Water plating.

'It is, also a special object of this invention to [fashiona rocket missile capable of easily receiv- :inga thick walled liner to be broken up into missile fragments, the rocket missile fashioned .flfor the most economic and accurate flight through the air when fired at high angles of dep arture from a rifled gun, for shore, personnel and fort bombardment, as well as air-craft attack.

jltis also an important object of thisinvention to bring about a revolutionizing actionupon the submarine by not only giving her a more accu- ;-rate and destructive torpedo for use against battleships, but a more devastating high explosive --missile for use against air-craft.

This new rifle rocket missile for submarines may be of sixteen, eighteen, or even twenty one inch calibre for a howitzer or gun of this size and be mounted and served upon a super sub- -.marine, as illustrated and described in United States Patent Number 2,349,728 issued to the present applicant under date of May 23, 1944 -;Mith.title War vessel with high power, long range 1 a lm.

. trthe "howitzer or gun.

:Other objects-of the invention will appear as "the description of the missile and its operating 1zif1-ed;gun 1 iSidlSClOSGd hereinafter.

With all objects of theinvention in View, the

mirrvention .resides in the novel principles and,

= between the foremost powder -:bag -.and-=;the

more such 1 devices.

parts as will be disclosed hereinafter and "particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawingsforming a part of this specification and .in which like numerals designate like parts in: all the views,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary'longitudinal sectional view of'a rifled howitzer or long range rifled: gun, showing one of these rocket-missilespositioned therein for firing by a. reduced charge of powder;

Fig. 2 is an elevational .view Of lZhlS:I'OCKEtmiS-' sile; and

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectionalview of this rocket missile.

Referring particularly to "Figs. 1 eandfl, :the numeral H3 indicates generally a-uhowitzer orrgun having the reduced'charge powderwbags 'll-ther in, each ba containing standard slow-shaming propellant, said bags positioned immediately-aforward of andretained by the breech block-pll'ihavingtherethrough the -'duct or -passage; t3 rfordthe firing primer, leaving a cushionin-gwairrspace l4 rear endof thebore forthe rocket missile-,-wwhich:missile at its rear end: is provided with externalpfins,

lugs onribs lfiadapted to'eng-agethegrooves of 18 designates the war-head (of 'the*-m:2ss ile,

equipped with the firing -devi-ce---l9-.;whiehy may comprise a contact or an inertia firing pin, a time-fuse, a -.;super.-sensiti-ve :fuse, or v a waterdepth actuated fuse, or ,acombination pf two or :I may I.elect to haVeea socalled magnetic firing device, or :an lelectrical firing device, oreven aradio or super-sonic firing device, depending. upon the nature of thetarget. Theouter shell of,theb0dy'0f the torpedor-isa-indicated at-Zll, saidshell containingthene gplqsive charge, the thickness of this outer shelhdepending also upon 'the'natureof *the target. :fAt 2| is hown a machined steel loase member f ashio-ned to receive the rear =endsof ;the-.-face,d ofi shell 20,- and: attached thereto-bygscrewqthreads (not shown) or by welding;- for example.

The rear portionrof themissile comprises a heavy walled steel casing 22 having sumeient mass to store considerable .-k-inetic energyzzwhen rapidly rotating-about ;-itsmajorzaxisf. aSsWell; as when shot forward=-by-arpowden charge. Whereas this steel casing may nobweigheas -:=much as an armor-piercing shell, er a standard high explosive shell of like diameter, ibis-desired to point out that r all of its -mass is r remotedroxm its center, and therefore said mass acts at higrrgyrothe agency of their engagement awithethe rifl ing ll of the gun barrel. The line 23 represents the faced-on rear end of the shell 2a where: itjoins I the machined steel base member 2!, and the line I .28 represents the fa-ced-offiorward end of the heavy walled casing 22, which forward end does not unite integrally with the machined steelbasemember, since it merely gives thrust to said member and'rotates the member with a friction drive upon-departure fromthe gun. The interior construction of the missile is The other component part may comprise liquid nitrogen tetra-roxide for example, where shown in Fig.3where 2 5 indicates; the charge of. I I

explosive which in this casecomprises-a solid.

explosive such as TNT, but it is to be understood that a twenty per cent lighter by weight, and a: I 1

forty per cent more powerful-by vo1ume,.ex-. plosive may be substituted, for example a liquid highiexplosive comprisinga liquid hydrocarbon and liquid nitrogen: tetra-oxide ias .the compo- -nentparts thereof as disclosed in U. S. Letters loss of a considerable portion of the kinetic energy. of the explosivev in disrupting the walls of I the shell upon detonation. This: missile-with its I comparativelythimwalled shell, is primarily designed for battle-shipwrecking, where maximum I I under water torpedo effect (or, as in the ease of the larger missiles, under water mine effect) is desired. It is by using the reduced :charge'ofpowder, and by the friction drive in rotating this comparatively. thin walled shell, that such a maximum mass of high explosive may be pro- 'jected in a practical manner at longran'gesand with; superior. accuracy.-

for use against personnel'or aircraft attack. the

wall thickness of the shell 20 is increased inherently, or this thickened effect may be attained by using a plurality of metallic rings 26 as a lining of the shell, which rings will be disrupted and/or broken by the detonation of the high explosive and their parts will serve as shrapnel fragments. The shell is provided with a rear closure plate member 21 for retention of the explosive.

The base member 2| is threaded internally, as illustrated, to receive the stout machined steel plug member 28 which is suitably and firmly secured in the forward open end of the steel tube 29 which extends substantially the full length of the casing 22. This machined steel plug member 28 is bored out centrally to receive an inertia fir- 5' ing' pin 30 fashioned to strike a percussion primer 32 carried by the cartridge 3|, and thus fire a potassium-nitrate charcoal mixture, for example, disposed in said cartridge. The gases of combustion resulting from the firing of such mixture, will pass from the cartridge through the two ducts 33 and 34, the such passage being controlled by the valve 35, which valve may be of the impact opening, or centrifugally operated. type. The centrally disposed tubular chamber 36 may contain one component part 31 of a liquid fuel, and the surrounding space 38 may contain another component part 59 of a liquid fuel.

One of these component parts may comprise one or more liquid hydrocarbons. such as benzene or gasoline for example, or it may contain one of the many alcohols. In any of these combustibles some liquid gas may be dissolved for pressure producing purposes, some normal or iso-butane for example.

I rocketv fuel in said chamber, or: it may-contain. I.

cotton wool, forexample, for prompt ignition of For shor'e'a'nd fort'bo'mbardment' as. well as 2 ih -mcke fuel- With a time fuse, the rocket r 1 i missile may have itspropelling fuel go into action it is desired to close hermetically, and seal for, I

storage, a suitable fluid supporter of combustion for, the'liquid fuel. The fluid supporter of combusti'on' however, may be liquid oxygen, or liquid I I ozone, where it is notdesired, or it is not necessary, to hermetically close the chamber and store the hind for any length' of time; Whenliquid oxygen,- or-liquid. ozone, is employed as the supporterof combustion, a safety valve must of. course'b'e provided to blow on gasandrelievepressure; for this purpose one or more of the valves 14,- 45, or .45, presently'to be described, 'may'comprise' aspri'ng' venting release I I Thelower ends ofthe tubular :chamber 36, I and the surrounding space 38, are closed re-' spectively by the plugmembers: 39 and), and the ducted], 43 and More keptclosedwhenthemissile is in a static state, but are opened respectively bythe, impact :or icentrifugally op-i erated valves 44, 451 and 46 whenthe missile is launched rotating from the rifled barrel of the howitzer or gun, thereby allowing saidducts to discharge the liquid fuel-componentszfl and 31, as wellas the liquid supporter of combustion,

into thev heavy walled combustion chamber .41

propel-lin "frocket where the mixture (i. e.- .iuelfl will, become ignited by the gunpowder propellant of the howitzer or I gun admitted through the opening 5c in the heavy closure I plate lflsecured upon the rear end of the casing 22 as' by the easily drawnipins '49, The com-iblzlstion chamber 47 or= theopening 50 may contain a time fuse for delaying the ignition of the at any desired pointin-its trajectory. Its trajectory may be a simple aerial one as in high angle fire, or it may be a compound trajectory in low angle fire, part aerial, and part skipshooting over the surface of water, or part aerial, and part under water "scurry depending upon conditions.

In any event, it is pointed out that the heat of combustion is well taken care of in the heavy walled combustion chamber, because the thermal units not used in the rocket action pass through the heavy walls of said chamber to the walls of the embracing and surrounding steel tubes 29 and 22 respectively, and to the air-cooling fins l6.

Having described the various parts of this rifle rocket torpedo missile, I will now describe its operation, and set forth the scientific principles upon which it is based, some of which are more subtle than others.

In applicants missile, it will be appreciated from the following that he may use a thin Walled shell and/or a properly proportioned or reinforced shell for maximum shrapnel effect, and still secure adequate range for all purposes in handtorpedo effect or mine effect under water, or maximum execution in shelling land bases or air craft.

But a thin-walled shell for maximum torpedo or mine effect, cannot be fired in contact with full charge powder bags at high muzzle velocity from a rifled gun with engagement of the grooves of the rifling. It would be broken up by the combined sudden thrust and twist of departure from the barrel of the gun.

Therefore applicants scientific design of his new rifle rocket missile and ballistic plan. The

*pedo, it is caused to slide freely into the rifled {$1111. -I t maybe-loaded as a unit, butwhen space isrlimited the component parts 20 and 22 may be loaded'serially since they are attachable, as here- *tofore'described.

,The entire missile may be pushed within the fifled portion-of the gun or only a portion there- 'of,'-a's;illustratedin Figure 1. In either case there wou-ld- 'be-acushion of air, first to be compressed before the modified shock and twist of departure "is brought to bear.

ln applicants copending U. S. patent application,"Serial-No. 526,782 filed March 16, 1944: and -entitled Aerial'torpedoes, a revolvable and com- '-parative1yshort gas-check-member is illustrated -and described to serve the triple purpose of a gas oheck, a friction rota-tion drive for the body -'of the-torpedo, anddirect air rotation drive in fl ht.

In 'the'present design therefor, the multiple jsha'llow" lug and finmembers it at the rear end or a stout tubular member, serve the triple puriposeof; gas-check, sliding friction rotation drive, and later static friction drive for the body of *t'het-orpedo. 'Thepresent fins therefore not only -act=-as a gas-check in preventing the passage of -hot-gases between the body of the torpedo and ther'ifling of the gun, which even with the comparatively low muzzle velocity of the reduced chargeof powder would be conductive to erosion, but *make possible the full propelling action of the powder gasesto be exerted upon the missile, and moreover track in the grooves of the rifling qiWihh lesscwea-r and strain upon them than if forced therein according to heretofore known copper band constructions. shallow spirally disposed lug .fin members properlyi'zlubricated, the strain upon the rifling and s nn would be .at .the minimum.

.lAs previouslystated the tube member '22 is of heavy construction, and because it is a hollow :structure with its mass of metal remote from its center, it ,stores ,a,maximum of kinetic energy when rotated at high speed about its major axis, and'iswell qualified therefore to build up, by a friction drive, the inner and lighter weight rocket fuel chamberas well as the warhead of the mis- "-s'ile.

{The-rocket fuel here may, of course, be a solid slow-burning rocket powder as well as the component part liquid fuel as described, and this rocket fuel is only brought into propelling action after the reduced charge of propellent in the gun has imparted at least 900 feet per second velocity, as well as an eflicient gyro-spin, to the missile.

The jet propulsion, or rocket action in this new missile and its system of use, does not come into play until the rocket body is already at high speed. This results in great efiiciency, for when the speed of the rocket body is closest to the With applicants r speed of its gas jet :particles, the lefiloiency ofvthe rocket isat its maximum. In other words ,the .new rocket missile does not wastefully use up valuable rocket .fuel in accelerating the missile from a state of rest, :as dopreviously fired rockets from the so-called rocket-guns. It is initially propelled-by a charge of powder in a true rocket g-un.

Furthermore, unlike previously fired rocket-s, it is made tobuild up a high velocityispin which is conducive to higher accuracy in marksmanship. Applicant is, of course, aware of the fact that in some of the previously fired rockets sfrom smooth bore guns, the rotation is also gradually built up by making the rocket blast produce ,rotation as well as propulsion. But this jet pro- .duced rotation is not as rapid as couldbedesired. Applicant may, of course, fashion-hisjet exhaustto aid in rotation as well as to givepropulsion,.and thereby secure all the speedofgyrorotation desired.

Because the diameterof the rocket tailendjs substantially as great as the rocket war-head end, there is but small clearance space for the ,spirally disposed fin members, but unlike the spirallydisposed,fintmembers in applicantfs copending patent application Serial No. 526,732,

they areless steep in twist and more numerous.

They consequently present to across wind a certain percentage of substantially ,fiat surface to the curved tubular surface uponwhichtheyare machine cut. or mounted, and thereforlthey may be adjusted as to lengths andnumber togive the missile a yaw into a cross wind, the yaw being determined by calculation orexperiment to have a corrective action to lateral displacement in aerial flight, No common projectile is capable of such an adjustment.

Thepresent new missile may contain.8,00,.1000, or 1,500 pounds of high explosive and because .lOf its unusual relationship of great length to diameter has very high momentum plus its rocket fuel propulsion onstriking Water'either. for skipshooting with a minimum of ricochet, or funder water scurry, or the target in the d-irecthit will be presently described.

It is obvious that thoseskilled in thevarious arts and sciences involved in such a development as herein set forth, may easily vary the details of design and construction, arrangement of parts, as well as the methods, ways. and means of use, which would enable 'themto produce the foregoing accomplishments as well as other accomplishments, without departing from the spirit of this invention, andtherefore it is not desired tobe limited to the precise description, except as may be required by the claims.

Having described my invention, Iclaim:

l. A rocket missilejfas'hioned to be 'fired'f-rom a rifled gun, said rocket missile comprising an outer tubular member with ri'fle-engaging fins, an inner tubular member'ha'ving asurfacea'drive fit within said outer tubular member and rotated by virtue of such drive fit by said outer tubular member, a centralized plug member rigidly attached to the interior of said inner tubular member, a war-head member rigidly attached to said centralized plug member, a charge of explosive and a firing device therefor disposed in said warhead member, a rocket fuel in said inner tubular member, and a combustion chamber at the end of said inner tubular member, said chamber having a driving nozzle for the escape of the products of combustion of said rocket fuel.

2. A rocket missile fashioned to be fired from a rifled gun, said rocket missile comprising a compara'tively heavy-walled outer tubular member, with rifle-engaging fins thereon, a. comparatively light-walled inner tubular member having a surface drive fit within said outer tubular member and rotated by virtue of such drive fit by said comparatively heavy-walled outer tubular member, a centralized plug member rigidly attached to the interior of said comparatively light-walled inner tubular member, a war-head member rigidly attached to said centralized plug member, a charge of explosive and a firing device therefor disposed in said war-head member, a rocket fuel and a combustion chamber therefor in said inner comparatively light-walled inner tubular member, and pressure generating means carried by said plug member for forcing said fuel into said combustion chamber.

3. A rifled rocket missile comprising a war head containing an explosive charge and a firing device therefor, a base member therefor centrally apertured and threaded to receive a threaded plug member, a threaded plug member therefor, a comparatively light-Walled tubular member rigidly attached to said threaded plug member, a rocket fuel and a combustion chamber therefor within said comparatively light-walled tubular member, said chamber having a driving nozzle for the escape of the products of combustion of said rocket fuel, and a comparatively heavywalled outer tubular member embracing said comparatively light-walled tubular member with a friction fit, spirally disposed fin members upon said comparatively heavy walled outer tubular member, said fin members fashioned to enter the rifling of a gun, and delayed action means for igniting the said rocket fuel upon discharge of the rifled rocket missile.

4. A rocket missile fashioned to be launched from a rifled gun, said rocket missile comprising a comparatively heavy-walled outer tubular member, with rifle-engaging fins thereon, a comparatively light-walled inner tubular member embraced by said outer tubular member with a friction fit for rotation therewith, a combustion chamber at the end of said inner tubular memher, said chamber having a driving nozzle for the escape of the products of combustion of a propellant liquid fuel, a centralized plug member rigidly attached to the interior of said comaratively light-walled inner tubular member, a war-head member rigidly attached to said centralized plug member and containing a charge of explosive and a firing device therefor, a centrally disposed container within the inner tubular member and a component part of a propellant liquid fuel therein, a pipe leading from said container to said combustion chamber, and a valve disposed in said pipe and responsive to movement imparted to said missile incident to the launching thereof.

5. A rocket missile fashioned to be launched from a rifled gun, said rocket missile comprising a comparatively heavy-walled outer tubular member, with rifle-engaging fins thereon, a comparatively light-walled inner tubular member embraced by said outer tubular member with a friction fit for rotation by said outer tubular member, a combustion chamber at the end of said inner tubular member, said chamber having a driving nozzle for the escape of the, products of combustion of a propellant liquid fuel, a centralized plug member rigidly attached to the interior of said comparatively light-walled inner tubular member, a war-head member rigidly attached to said centralized plug member and con-- taining a charge of explosive and a firing device therefor, a centrally disposed container within the inner tubular member and a component part of a propellant liquid fuel therein, a pipe leading from said container to said combustion chamber, and a normally closed valve disposed in said pipe, said valve opened in response to the launching movement of said missile.

6. A rocket missile fashioned to be launched from a rifled gun, said rocket missile comprising an outer tubular member with rifle-engaging fins thereon, an inner tubular member embraced by said outer tubular member with a friction fit for rotation by said outer tubular member, a combustion chamber at the end of said inner tubular member, said chamber having a driving nozzle for the escape of the products of combustion of a propellant liquid fuel, a centralized plug member rigidly attached to the interior of said inner tubular member, a war-head member rigidly attached to said centralized plug member and containing a charge of explosive and a firing device therefor, a centrally disposed container within the inner tubular member and a propellant liquid fuel therein, a valved connection between said container and said combustion chamber, said connection operatively responsive to movement imparted to said missile by the launching thereof, and pressure generating means carried by said plug member for forcing said fuel into said combustion chamber.

NEVIL MONROE HOPKINS.

REFERENCES CITED following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,360,602 VanDeuren Nov. 30, 1920 1,994,490 Skinner Mar. 19, 1935 2,145,508 Denoix Jan. 31, 1939 2,397,114 Anzalone Mar. 26, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 41,147 France Aug. 9, 1932 (Addition to No. 714,676) 618,668 Germany Sept. 13, 1935 625,104 France Apr. 19, 1927 831,496 France June 7, 1938 

